>> we love the interrogation we are able to provide immaculately taking over the show. happening now starts right now. thank you. >> we are just an hour away on the deadly terror attacks coverage and ungodly. as a new state department reports, it seems to contradict statements from the administration in the initial hours after the assault. it killed four americans in libya. the state department saying that this attack was preplanned and not the result of a spontaneous protest that had nothing to do with an anti-muslim film. again come all of that alluded to in the first few days following this attack. ambassador john bolton will be for moments when from now. we have a lot of breaking political news as well. jenna: first, brand-new stories and breaking news the one threat against one of our nation's

banks and cyberattacks on banking websites. we will tell you who is being hit now. plus a hit-and-run caught on tape, the victim from 10 feet into the air and police need your help to find the person behind the wheel. it is all tran-ten. "happening now." jon: a good morning to you. the polls show this contest to come down to the wire. jenna: it certainly is a backdrop for all the stories today's we continue to watch this march towards election day. we are waiting for governor romney hold a town meeting. joining us will be new jersey governor chris christie. the event is set to kick off in

about 35 minutes. in the meantime from the president back in the white house today, following a visit to ohio yesterday, the latest policy shows the race in the buckeye state dramatically tightening. president obama is now being governor romney by less than one percentage point. ohio is one of a handful of states that are considered battleground, 18 electoral votes come a long way to the 270. john roberts is why but we did see everything. set the scene for us. >> yes, it started off in the fellas basement, and now the governor here in ohio during a swing through the buckeye state talking about jobs and energy, trying to fully articulate campaign against the president and now making it a campaign

about voting for governor romney here he is less meaning in cuyahoga falls, ohio. >> i have been watching some of the footage of president obama's rally, they have been chanting four more years. i think that right chance ought to be four more weeks for them. [cheers] [applause] reporter: mitt romney is really reaching out to those voters.

an editorial board meeting yesterday where governor romney said as president he would not have down his agenda legislation to restrict abortion. the obama campaign has just been all over this promising this is another flip-flop by governor romney, saying the women out there don't trust them, don't trust what he says, he really will work to restrict abortion, of course, the look of the latest pew poll, president obama and governor romney even among themselves. it is in the obama campaign's best interest to scare some away from governor romney. it is also left the romney campaign scrambling to ensure that yes come the government is very much pro-life and that it would support legislation that would restrict abortion. this has all open up a bunch of new questions, some of which make them up at tonighttomorrow

night's presidential debate and could come up in the second one. we are following this and we will see where it goes. jenna: it might be interesting if it comes up in the townhall today. we will be watching for that as well. reporter: it could be, maybe someone will bring up. we appreciated it always. you never know really what questions will be asked and it really does show the priority of voters in what questions and issues they want the candidates to address. jon: also interesting to hear what chris christie might say. we are continuing to monitor the next presidential debate. my next guest says that the president's performance in denver forced a major strategy

change for the obama party. charlie gasparino joins us live. you are talking about the four letter word liar, right? reporter: everyone across the spectrum, even msnbc determined that barack obama had clearly lost, you know, president obama didn't look inward, he just decided to reevaluate his presidency on how to defend it. the entire campaign and after mitt romney and they are accusing him of being dishonest. david axelrod called him and elmer gantry, it is a poisonous campaign, if you remember from four years ago, it is just unimaginable. that campaign the president obama ran last time was hopeful and optimistic and now it is something totally different. it's all the way -- you know, it

was goes all the way up and down the campaign for president obama himself to suggesting that mitt romney is some sort of -- it wasn't really meant mitt romney on stage, it was some sort of stand-in for him, all the way down to somebody about one of his staffers. jon: is not silly? people saw that this was no teleprompter and no script, they saw the real mitt romney on stage. reporter: i think it is a totally counterproductive argument. it also sort of undermines your own credibility when everyone that you know -- president obama is saying, do not believe him. everyone says, well, wait a minute. i was actually surprised to see that mitt romney, you know, stepped in and, you know, gave a very convincing performance. jon: white is why does the romney campaign of fire that he thought about half-truths or

mistruths or you could go back to the president's promise that he would keep unemployment low 8%. lo and behold, that sort of happened recently, four years later. >> i think to a large degree, they do look desperate right now. a lot of these attacks -- i don't think they are effective. when somebody is doing something, when your opponent is doing something and hurting himself, you don't need stepping away and stop that from happening. you just kind of let him continue hurting himself. jon: jenna pointed out something interesting with that romney's mo during the debate, he seemed to carry himself as a ceo that had a command of the facts of figures. obama seemed out with a college

professor, which he had always been. >> that's right, mitt romney was not trying to be cool, a guide he wanted to have a beer with at the bar come bottom he was an adult in the room and he was very serious. it was a terrific performance, if you run were four years ago, that was barack obama. he was not trying to be the nonadult, he was trying to be the good you want to hang out with at the bar. jon: hope and change is so 2008. [laughter] charlie, thank you for being here. jenna: just confirmed that 12 deaths in a meningitis outbreak. linked to steroid injections gone back. there is new concern about a new type of infection, one that is not responding to traditional treatment. jonathan has the latest from

atlanta. reporter: this latest death was reported from florida. it was a man who actually died back in july. that was the month before public health officials have discovered contamination inside the steroid back pain medication that had been shipped to 23 states. florida department of health has now confirmed that that death was associated with this fungal meningitis outbreak, bringing the national death toll to 12. this rare form of meningitis is not transmissible from person to person the outbreak was eventually traced to a fungus that apparently contaminated three lots of medication compounded by a pharmacy in massachusetts. tennessee health officials say that they have now confirmed a second fungus associated with meningitis cases. they say that the fungus identified in that state appears to be responding to the focal treatment, public health

officials still believe that if they begin with treatment early, it will have the best possible outcome very important reasons, they need to identify and test the patient as soon as possible. jenna: we certainly hope the best possible outcome, jonathan. what is being done to prevent future outbreaks? reporter: there is already an effort underway to members in congress. in fact on a house committee on energy and commerce has sent a formal request to the fda requesting a briefing by the end of the week. this was also sent to the cdc. some members of the committee have expressed concern of pharmaceutical operations, such as the new england compounding center, which formulated the steroid suspected in the outbreak, this is less regulatory oversight in other compounding places. the letter was sent to the fda saying that compounding pharmacies founded to regulatory black hole. jenna: we'll be talking to a doctor about that a little bit

later on the program and how we can protect ourselves if we need to. as we continue to move forward with the story. jonathan, thank you so much. jon: some sadness from the nfl, the legendary defenseman alex, has died. he played with the lions. eight magnificent football player. he had a coast or enroll in the movie -- he was the father of emmanuel lewis on the long-running sitcom alex karras had recently suffered kidney failure. he had also joined in the lawsuit of the league during that the league was negligent in

not allowing upper head protection. at any rate, alex karras died this morning surrounded by family and friends. alex karras. jenna: we think about is him and today it's in our best of them. in the meantime, . jenna: next on happening now, a mystery and more. we will have that story coming up [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness?

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jenna: by houston crime now some crime headlines we are keeping an eye on. this body found in charles river.

jonathan dailies remain weighted down with a cinder block. reports of a homicide. in the u.s. citizen who lives in boboston was on a flight from japan. they busted this gentleman at lax with a body bag and a grenade and a hatchet in his luggage. and police say they found more than 100 hours of secretly taped video from the encounter with this gentleman. jon: just in from the defense minister in brussels, where leon panetta is now asking for help, training security forces in afghanantan. he is explaining that the u.s. has created a disproportionate number of military training

teams. he is calling on europe to pick up on the shortage. what else came out of this visit to nato? >> one of the main aims of the visit to brussels will be aligned together in the wake of all of these insider attacks. >> we have to remain committed to the principles and togetherness. we want to help afghanistan security government itself. as i said to my fellow ministers, we have come too far, far too many battles, we have spilled too much blood. not to finish the job we were all about. >> he also took the opportunity to announce a change in command. read general -- marine general job will take his place in

november. he will face more in november. jon: so what are the other details? >> the war officially ended last december with more than 200 iraqis killed that month alone. a series of deadly bombings before major prison break last month that set free some of most dangerous al qaeda linked terrorist. the u.s. intelligence estimates estimate that as many as 2500 al qaeda people are living in five training camps in iraq. u.s. officials that estimate that in afghanistan, there are less than 100 separate from the taliban.

jon: jennifer, thank you so much for giving us the report from the pentagon. jenna: new information on a suspected terrorism and trade terror network busted in france. they found bomb making materials as part of the investigation, what they are calling an extremely dangerous terrorist cell. the discovery made after at least a dozen arrests have been raised over the weekend. while a connection to a grenade attack on a jewish grocery store last night. greg london has more. reporter: it is very much a ongoing investigation. it started over this weekend with those rates throughout france. the alleged ringleader was killed in a shootout with ease. twelve others were being interrogated. anti-semitic material as well as

you list of jewish associations. the group is believed to be attacked to the attack in a paris suburb. there have been anti-semitic attacks in france, leaving the killing of a rabbi, children, and others. france is concerned about the growing number of run against jewish targets. some of the suspects were radicalized radicalizing recent trips to egypt and tunisia, but that also plan to go on and fight with the hottest and militants in syria, and apparently had deadly plants closer to home. jenna: we will continue to watch that. thank you. jon: stunning developments on the deadly aftermath of the terror attack on benghazi. it is now contradicting the

administration's initial response to the murders of our four americans in libya. ambassador john bolton will be along to weigh in weigh in with his thoughts from you. you won't want to miss that

jon: breaking news on a story we have been following. a 10-year-old girl who has been missing. rick has the latest from the breaking newsroom. reporter: in westminster, colorado, they are working with law enforcement encoding, wyoming, trying to find 10-year-old jessica bridgeway. they are trying to find a connection with another child abduction that happened on monday. in the meantime, releasing this video of jessica and they want people to pay close attention to what she looks like.

a small gap between her two front teeth and she also has a sore on the bridge of her nose right now, right where her glasses that, or she may not be wearing her glasses. she disappeared on friday while going to be friends with her daily walk to school. the fbi is involved with the search, which has included a home investigation of jessica shared with her mother. law enforcement interviewing the family, not ruling anything out. here are the mother and father. >> everybody that knows me and knows our family knows that we didn't do anything. i know that it is something that has to be done. you know, they have to get it out there. >> they asked me if i thought that she did it, and i said, there is no way. i've never believed that. i mean, same as i would never do something like that.

i don't see see how any parent or child. jon: investigators say that the family has been offering. the only clue is that the backpack was found miles from the house. if you have any information, here is the number to call it the westminster colorado police department, (303)658-4360. jon: at heart just breaks for the parents. what a strange story. the obama administration initially appointed to the assault in libya as a spontaneous protest that has to do with the anti-muslim film.

here is secretary of state hillary clinton in the days after the deadly attack on september 11. >> there is no justification. not at all. responding to this video with violence. the two joining us now is former ambassador john bolton epoxies attribute. ambassador, what we saw and heard last night, where senior state from officials gave a statement about benghazi, a precursor to the hearings today -- they did not point to any evidence of any time that supported the conclusion is a process for a a spontaneous attack. we have the story has developed over the last several weeks in. >> reading last night is also consistent with reports that in september, the day of the 12th on the, the day after the assassination, patrick kennedy, the undersecretary, read the staff that was a terrorist attack. so i think that there is a

potential here for a real split between the rear side of the state department, who are not about to be blamed for this if they don't think they were responsible, but the careerist on the one hand and the obama administration on the other. you know, you have backlit with secretary clinton. she is on record several times as saying the violence was caused by the video, famously, ambassador rice said that the white house spokesman said it. but if there is consistency, it appears to be in the rear side of the state department, saying from the get-go that it was a terrorist attack. that will be an interesting centerpiece to this hearing today. is this a real bureaucracy versus the white house? jenna: let's talk about the procedure. you were an ambassador, he worked for the state department, you were a member of the president's cabinet -- just the same as ambassador rice at this

time. as information breaks and comes in, is there any chance that different people get different information and perhaps that happened here? >> yes, well, i was not a member of the president's cabinet. this may be part of the problem. all you have to cabinet officials in the state department. that is a prescription for potential trouble. but obviously, when top officials go out and try to explain a particular event, they should have access to the fullest amount of information. otherwise, it is a prescription for the administration to get itself into trouble, as it has done here. normally that would not be in the view of the ambassador. that job is not responsible for diplomatic security in libya anywhere else other than new york. one interesting question was why students were asked to go on this, rather than secretary of state clinton, who does have responsibility.

jenna: just a quick thought on that and i'm going to cure you overpass for commercial break. why do you think the u.n. ambassador was put forward, that we haven't heard so much from the u.n. since that time? >> there are two possibilities. one of the white house said sent congratulations, you have the short straw or two secretaries, secretary clinton said this is a hidden story that people have not told us on. where was she? at her department. jenna: one of the things that we have coming to life is about the deteriorating security in benghazi. i will ask you about that after break. what is the reaction from the state department?b... we will have on that right after a quick commercial break. in case i get hit by a meteor.

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jenna: back with us now is ambassador john bolton. we are talking about what happened in benghazi. we need to know what is typical and not typical when it comes to some of these issues at the state department. when we hear that there were some state department cables that were referring to a deteriorating situation in benghazi and in libya in general, when it comes to security -- what would be the normal reaction to that, if there is one? >> welcome a worldwide the

department is responsible for the safety of a lot of americans overseas. they have a way of conflicting demand. i think that is why they should be the focus of the hearing today. it is clear from what we know so far that the threat level in libya was high and rising. yet washington was rejecting requests for additional security, or even the main existing security. we need to find out what the reasons are. it doesn't really matter in this case with the normal procedures are. because the result is tragedy. there are four dead americans. there ought to be some accountability for that and i think it will be very important not to look just at the low level officials who may have checked the box or disapproved or set out the disapproving table, do they talk to their superiors, were there other ideological or political reasons for the decisions on security. where did those influences come from? did they come from the seventh floor of the state department for top management is? and they come from the white

house? those are the courses of questioning that i hope that we can see some answers to today. jenna: we will be talking to some who have the answers in short order. ambassador, thank you. jon: fox news is america's election headquarters. right now the latest politics average poll shows an extremely tight presidential election rate. governor romney out edges president obama by less than one percentage point. anybody can tip the scale here or overseas. you just heard jenna speaking with john bolton about the attack in libya that killed four americans on september 11. we are learning more about the fallout of the murders and how the administration is responding to them. let's talk about it with juan williams and editor at large and fox news contributor mary katharine ham.

you agree with the premise that most people, when they go to the voting booth, don't think about foreign policy and america's stature overseas? >> welcome i think they worry about national security, especially in the years since 9/11. that has been a major item on the american agenda. at the moment, it is still about the economy if you ask voters, their number one concern seems to be the concern of jobs and the jobs must be at the top of the ticket. there has been a change. in the example of that, the romney camp has said it is less about making this about president obama's trip of the economy and much more about looking ahead in saying that mitt romney can do a better job in terms of generating those jobs quickly and getting a trajectory of the recovery to speed up. jon: when mitt romney made his speech at the virginia military institute, he pointed to a lot of the president promises on foreign policy and what he calls

failures or mistakes and essentially said that this president has left us less and less safe after four years in office. does that resonate with voters? >> i think that he is wrong that debt and deficit is number one. jobs is numbe it adds a sense of bad news amongst the administration, number two, it does hamper obama's ability to press his advantage on foreign policy, which he did have because of the modern and other issues. but this is breaking through and it's going to continue breaking through the house hearings today. there are some curious mishandling of this issue in benghazi. as it continues to break through october, the timing is bad and it gives mitt romney simply stand and say, this guy has made some serious mistakes here.

jon: the clear politics have taken a look at independent voters. the rcp average, the rasmussen poll, gallup tracking poll, ibd, all of them have mitt romney just president among independent voters. does that surprise you? >> yes, because it's such a radical shift. but again, i thishift. but again, i think that perception after the debate, maybe more so than the reality, is everything in politics. the perception is that mitt romney swamped the president, he looked more commanding and presidential on the stage, and that obama lacks the fire and wasn't bringing the fight. for the moment, i think we see that kind of way. i don't know if that will hold over time. what you see there and coming back to the topic of our discussion, the president has a standing advantage. it it it is unusual for a

democrat, said romney seems as if starting to make some inroads on foreign policy and is seen as an area that can. that is why you saw this beach earlier this week at the virginia military institute and why he likely will continue to hammer the libya thing, even though, again, we don't know the facts of the case, but it just looks bad. so he wants to take advantage of it. jon: there is a story saying that he is going after counties that voted for barack obama the last time around because they had a real weakness on the part of the president and a lot of people have been persuaded by the debate and will be willing to cast a vote for the republican candidate the map i think that's right. it looks at the state department susan rice and others were definitely covering them up about a week and a half. that is one of the reasons, and i think that will continue to come out and you you'll continue to learn the real facts. the combination of the two are not good for the president. as you said, a lot of these

polls have come up with independents shifting towards the president. many shifting towards romney because of the debate. that has been a little bit spooked and they're going to have to expend resources in places they thought that they might have to. it places in michigan when maybe they wanted to concentrate on virginia or florida or ohio, and now they can't do that because ronnie really did make an impression that is different than what they had been suggesting. jon: we have been told the pool has been deep, but we didn't realize that be. good to have you both and thank you so much. don't miss our coverage of the debate starting at 8:55 p.m. eastern time for the vice presidential debate. right here on fox news channel. america's election headquarters. jenna: the first part is most important. a new target in a series of cyberattacks against the nation's banks. a bank that is getting ready for

the next denial of service attack. more on on that. and a hit and run ponte. the guy who got hit, survived, and now he has a message for the driver. we will share that with you next eligible for medicare?

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with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. jon: we are going to take you to the state of ohio now where chris christie is participating in a town hall meeting at along with governor mitt romney. the presidential nominee on the republican side, let's listen in for just a moment as we capture on camera the focus. there must be something funny that the governor just said. let's take a listen. >> it is not some of the things that governor romney is saying. i am a prosecutor. when as a prosecutor, what you do, is you don't use your own words. you use the words of the person you're making the case against.

so are momentous. so remember this. government is the only thing that we all belong to. listen to that one more time. government is the only thing that we all belong to. well, i come from new jersey. there is a lot more democrats than republicans in new jersey. i am an endangered species there. but even in new jersey, they taught me this simple truth. we don't want to government. government belongs to us. [cheers] [applause] i am proud to be here today with a man who understands that his very core. one who understands that the true power of this country is in

its people and their ingenuity and their integrity and their work ethic, all of which is displayed here at this company. ingenuity. integrity, and a great work at that. he will unleash your power to remake america again. he is my friend and i will guarantee this, everybody, you are about to hear from the next president of the united states of america, mitt romney. [cheers] [applause] >> thank you. congressman, chris, thank you. wow, thank you so much. thank you, it's very generous. thank you so much. thank you for those words and

that generous introduction. it is good to have governor christie here. he is on the bus with me and your great senator, rob portman. thank you senator portman for being here with us in getting us started today. thank you congressman for getting us started as well. you are going to get reelected and i look forward to having in washington. a special thanks also to karen and jim. jim who got this going, thank you, jim for your great work. stand up so people know who you are. thank you. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] i am hardly an expert on

compressors, but for those who don't know what djembe, he designed -- he designed the technology and made it work that creates the world standard that is being used today. in fact, jim, you and your family and these people were sitting around us, you did build it. this is not built by government. thank you, jim. [cheers] [applause] now, karen is around here somewhere. there she is, in the center. she is running the operation now. she is running this business massively well. congratulations, i appreciate your comments and your words. chris christie, stealing your line like that, that's simply not fair. i'm glad he blurted it out, that is very helpful. let me also tell you how appreciative i am of something that we share. my wife and karen about breast cancer survivors.

[cheers] [applause] champions. thank you. [cheers] [applause] karen was kind to remind me that this is breast cancer awareness month and gave me the spin, which i am wearing this morning in her honor and the honor of my wife and all the women across america who have battled this terrible disease and so they know of our commitment, to defeat it. to provide long-lived for fellow citizens. this is an important time for america, and i appreciate your willingness to stop production for a few hours. hopefully not too long here.

and hopefully they have a chance to speak to you. i'm going to turn to you for questions in just a few moments much in which you ask any questions that you would like. i will answer some, and if they were really tough, i will have chris answer them. [laughter] you can pick up those questions, a few words before we get going. we had a debate last week, about a week ago. and that was a good experience. i enjoy that. [cheers] [applause] spoke about important things and i think the president and i were each able to describe a vision of where we take the country. and our views were very different. the president would install obamacare. it has been shown that the cost of obamacare per family is about $2500 more. i would repeal obamacare and replace it with real reforms to bring down the cost of health care and money.

[cheers] [applause] the president indicated that you are you're going to see higher taxes under his administration. you already have other obamacare. but that will continue. the vice president blurted out the truth by saying that he's going at about a trillion dollars in taxes and taxes are the wrongly create growth. i will not raise the taxes on the people. it's a very different approach. [cheers] [applause] when the president was running as a candidate four years ago, he looked at the deficits under president bush and found them to be excessive and un-american. they are about as half as large as the one he has put in place over the last four years. he said he was going to cut the

deficit in half and he has doubled it. there is no question, but if he were to be reelected, we would see trillion dollar deficits again and again. our national debt is almost the same now as our total economy, gdp. this slows down the economy. it makes it harder for businesses to grow and hire more people and raise wages. unlike the president, when i finally get this job, i will cap the spending i will cut it and i will get us on track to a balanced budget. >> there are other differences as well. the president is planning on obamacare cutting medicare for current retirees by $716 billion. i think that is wrong. i think we must honor the promise made to our seniors and i will restore the funding and make sure that we protect medicare and social security.

one thing that i will mention, the president's budget calls for treating our military by hundreds of billions of dollars, and then this week frustration idea that the white house came up with cut up another few hundred billion. the secretary of defense has called those kinds of cuts devastating to our national security. i will not cut our military. i will restore that funding and keep our military second to none in the world. [cheers] [applause] now, there is one more place where you saw a distinction between the two of us. we were asked about how we would get the economy going and create jobs. and i hope that you listen carefully to the president's response. because what he said is reminiscent of what he said four years ago, with stimulus and hiring government workers and raising taxes, those things do not create jobs.

those don't help the private sector employment of people and expand. those do not encourage entrepreneurs to start more businesses. his plans do not create jobs for the american people. i actually have a plan that will create 12 million new jobs and get rising incomes going again. either by the way, the median income of an american family over the last four years has gone down so much as a family. crude oil costs are up, health care costs are up, these have been tough times for middle income families. jon: ohio is a crucial state in the presidential race. you can watch this entire event streaming right now on fox news.com. if you'd like to hear the rest of this town hall event with governor mitt romney and

governor chris christie of new jersey.

>> reporter: rick folbaum in the "happening now" control room. brand-new stories. including the fact it is almost exactly one month to the day since that deadly terror attack at our consulate in libya. a hearing is about to get underway on the hill. what did the white house know and when did they know it leading up to that attack that killed our ambassasador and thre others. we'll take you to washington live. also governor romney, we've been listening to him on the stump in ohio, one of the most important states in the election. just as polls show him gaining ground there we'll go behind the scenes in the buckeye straight, straight ahead. and the after-party brawl in center city, philadelphia. looks more like a flyers game than a wedding party. the latest on that. and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. martha: new details on the deadly terror attack in benghazi sparking what some are describing as a political firestorm if not a bigger story

than that. the white house and state department look to be at odds as lawmakers push to find out what really happened, along with who knew what and then. you're taking in a live picture of what is about to happen on capitol hill, a hearing, we'll hear about that in a moment. welcome to "happening now," i'm jenna lee. bill: there are four dead americans at the center of what happened there. that's why the hearings are so information. i'm jon scott. the first congressional hearing on the deadly terror attack in benghazi getting underway or about to on capitol hill. at first the obama administration said that deadly attack grew out of a spontaneous demonstration and pointed to an anti-islamic video as fuel for the attack. one of the questions yet to be answered is, was there actually such a demonstration outside the benghazi compound? despite everything the administration said to the contrary there is evidence the state department never believed the video really had anything to do with it. the attack left four americans dead, including the u.s. ambassador to libya, christopher stevens. chief intelligence correspondent

catherine herridge is live in washington. what are we expecting to come out of this hearing, or what are we expecting to happen during the hearing, kat catherine. >> reporter: we have the statement for the records of the four witnesses, they are the chief points of contact the decision makers if you will for security in benghazi. whether it was diplomatic or military security. we are waiting for the hearing to begin led by congressmen chaffetz and ice satisfactory. 230 security-related incidents in libya in the year up to the attack and a short time ago chairman issa was not ruling out calling secretary of state hillary clinton to explain what happened but today begins with the whistle-blowers. >> you never take it off the table but it could go sideways, it could go to the white house, to the fbi, there are a lot of places that people and places that had to fail in order for this terrible tragedy to occur. >> reporter: what we're expecting today is a lot of attention on an email that was written by a senior member of security for the state

department. this suggested they were directed by washington to normalize conditions on the ground so, in other words, it appeared that the security was being driven by political factors, jon. bill: so what is our state department saying about the attack now? has the story in essence changed? >> reporter: well, it has. for reporters in advance of the hearing the briefers confirmed who was first reported by fox news on september 17th, six days after the attack that there was no demonstration at the consulate when the attack unfolded at 9:340 in the evening local time. we are learning for the first time that the ambassador moved to a safe room in the main building of the consulate. separately fox news is told that ambassador stevens followed the dictated evacuation and emergency plan that came from washington. after the fall of the libyan dictator gadhafi fox news is told that the state department did an assessment con khraougd the consulate could withstand an assault of only 15 minutes and much less if the number of assailants was greater than

four. chairman issa saying this morning there is the political question and then there is a practical matter of security. >> the reason i called my committee back during this period of time in which most members are home campaigning, was that i thought it was so important that we get to the truth about the failure of security, because we have hundreds of missions an embassies and cons let's around the world, and if this has been repeated even once, and i don't act quickly then i failed to meet my obligation. >> reporter: two final points, this i shall you've the demonstration is important, number one, as we first reported on september 17th there was no demonstration, in fact there was no demonstration earlier in the day that had anything to do with this video. and once that thread was pulled the entire narrative that somehow this was a demonstration that spun out of control, this was undercut, those statements from the administration. second of all what we see here with the statement on the

administration is what appears to be a real conflict between the state department on one hand and the white house on the other. at what point was there this division over whether the video had anything really to do with what happened in benghazi? and we know based on our reporting that within the first 24 hours it was absolutely clear to many in the intelligence community, and now it also appears in the state department that it was not driven by this video, that it was in fact a terrorist attack which begs the question, why was it nearly a week later that ambassador rice went on the sunday talk shows with the talking points, which i am told by a white house official were reviewed by the intelligence community, jon. bill: wow. it always comes down to what did they know and what did they know it. >> reporter: the facts have a power awful their own from my experience. bill: they do. more on this now. thank youment. martha: well said by catherine. joining us now moreno on the security failures in benghazi. trey gowdy. we appreciate the time. i know you'll have to go in a

few moments, that you'll be asking the questions today. let's pick up on what catherine pointed out. it's something that ambassador bolton talked to us last hour the discrepancy between the white house's messages on this the administration and other state department officials. why not call secretary of state hillary clinton to testify today to try to close the gap and understand why there is a difference of opinion, or difference of explanation as to why these attacks happened? >> well, i'm going to defer to chairman issa on the witnesses he invited. i'm sure he extended an invitation to secretary clinton and i'm sure she said let me send the most knowledgeable person and there will be a representative from the department of state. this is not going to be our only hearing. we won't get all the answers we want. i frankly would like to question susan rice every bit as much as hillary clinton if not more. i will defer to chairman issa on who he invited and why. the purpose of this hearing today for some of my colleagues perspective is the ignoring of these episodes of violence

leading up to september the 11th. more than 200 episode of violence, including assassination attempts. my focus is going to be the aftermath, how this administration could ignore what the intelligence community was telling them, what the state department was telling them, and blame it on a video. susan rice apparently was the last person in this country to know that a video was not responsible for the murder of four of our fellow citizens. and i want to know why they sent her on the sunday talk shows to tell us something that is demonstrably false. martha: what do you think the motivation would be, or could be? >> usually when people misrepresent things it's not because the truth serves them better, it's because the truth gets them in trouble. they want a narrative that his administration's foreign policy is working, that his foreign policy of appeasement and apology is working and the reality is we are less respected than we have ever been in that region.

makalovei said it's good to be loved and feared. if you have to pick one pick feared, and that is not his foreign policy. he would have to concede his foreign pal policy is a failure weeks before the election and i don't think that is a concession he wants to make. martha: they say this is how the situation developed, how information was collected and they caveated that statement saying they were trying to figure out exactly what happened. that is something that continues today, the investigation into exactly what type of attack this was and who is responsible. congressman i'm curious. we understand there were other people inside the consulate when this attack happened and those folks were evacuated. have you had the opportunity to talk to any of them? do you know who they are? what kind of information they are providing as to what happened that night and in the days following? >> i do not. i know that congressman issa and congressman chaffetz went to libya. congressman chaffez has done

yoeman's work on this. i'm sure he has talked to them. my work is going to focus on the fault see explanation and why the american people sr-r misled. jason has done a phenomenal job of documenting the lead up to the murder of our four fell owe americans. martha: what would be next? let's say we are playing out the scenario. we understand there is cable talking about a deteriorating situation in libya, and the response to that will be one of the thins you'll be talking about in the hearing. when you find out the answers what is within your power in congress to do? what changes would you want to see made? how would you follow-up per se to what we're going to hear today? >> well, we are going to do things a little unlike the administration, we are going to get all of the answers and do our investigation before we make public pronouncements. we are not just going to guess at what needs to be done. you are correct that there were requests for additional security. not only was additional security not provided they received less

security. we want to know who in the department of state has the authority to deny a request from an ambassador who feels like his life may be in danger for additional security. i can't imagine any place in the world more dangerous than libya right now. so if we're pulling security out of libya i'd like to know where we're taking it and if the ambassador is saying he feels threatened and there have been assassination attempts against judges and police officers and the british ambassador, if that is not enough to ramp up security, then we need to close the embassy and close the consulate. if the fbi can't go into a country because it's not safe, then why in the world do we sip ple diplomates there? we were not haeubl t not not able to secure this crime seat for two weeks. the bureau was two to three weeks late developing this crime scene. we may never not truth. we have to make sure this never happens again but what i'm doing is bringing honor to the lives of the four people who were

killed and i want to know why their government let them down. their government sent them there, their government said no when it comes to more security and i want to know why their government let them down. martha: we'll look forward to hearing some of the answers to those questions congress man. i know you have to go into the hearing at this time. thank you very much for joining us ahead of that. we are watching live pictures of congressman issa who is doing some opening statements on this hearing. let's go ahead and particular a listen. >> a dangerous locations around the world. accounts from security officials who were on the ground and documents indicate that they repeatedly warned washington officials about dangerous situations in libya. instead, however of moving swiftly to respond to these concerns washington officials seemed preoccupied with the concept of norma liization. we will ask our panel here today what normal liization means. in accounts we have heard it included artificial timelines for removing american security

personnel, replaying them with local libyans. these occurred even as training delays and new threats also occurred. this rush toward a reduced presence of u.s. personnel continued even as a bomb blew a 12-foot opening in the wall of this very compound we speak about today. requests for extensions of more security by the mission in libya, however, appear to have often been rejected, or even more deliberately officials in washington told diplomats in libya not even to make them. or as we've had in sworn testimony, if you make them they will not be supported. we know that the tragedy in benghazi ended as it did. we now know that in fact it was caused by a terrorist attack that was reasonably predictable

to eventually happen somewhere in the world, especially on september 11th. in closing, as secretary clinton has impaneled a blue ribbon board to fully investigate what occurred, and if work is important, it is much broader for us and for that panel to take up an additional challenge. there are hundreds and hundreds of facilities similar to this around the world. there are thousands of personnel serving this country who at any time in any country could be a target. some of those are high-risk, and obvious, like libya, others may be lower risk. this committee is dedicated to insure that security -- bill: what really happened at the benghazi compound in libya just about a month ago on 9/11 when four americans, including ambassador chris stevens were killed? you see congressman darrell issa leading the first congressional

investigation into the many conflicting and confusing stories that have come out about what led up to that attack and their deaths. if you'd like to continue to watch we have it streaming for you live on foxnews.com. throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+.

jenna: we're going to take you back to the hearing that is happening on d.c. as to what exactly happened in benge on the night of the attack on september 11th. we keep referencing a call by unnamed state officials that are briefing the press. this happened last night ahead of the hearing. i wanted to share a couple of things with you as we heard descriptions of what happened that night. at 9:40 at night it was apparent to the folks inside the consulate that an attack was happening, that gunfire and explosions started to happen outside the gates there. there were not protest chants, not a small crowd. what's being described as a large number of men, armed men flowed into the compound. we don't have an exact number on how many men, but just imagine

that description of these men flowing into the compound. as we move further throughout the description, these men start lighting fire inside different parts of the consulate, which is part of the damage that you're seeing on your screen there of the burned out inside of the consulate, and the aeu taerbgs arattackers are described in different groups. a state department official starts to talk about a third group of attackers and the men flowing into the consulate. many questions about how many men were there and what exactly happened here. these are some of the questions that the folks that are having this hearing today, congressman issa along with congressman cumming are trying to attempt to find answers to. i want to point out the democrat on your screen there, congressman cumming is saying that this is politically motivated, that the republicans are holding this hearing because we are no close to the election and that politics are at play here. so we are going to continue to match this hearing down to d.c., bring you any relevant news and

updates as we hear more about the attack in benghazi. jon. jon: with less than four weeks to go, jenna until we go to the polls we are taking a close look at the states that could hold the key to the white house. today that very important state of ohio could be the most important battleground of all. hope i can get it to pop up on the touch screen here. there we go. the buckeye state voters in ohio have chosen the winner in 12 of the last 12 elections, that's very much a perfect record. the last person to win the presidency without winning ohio was jfk back in 1960. let's tkaeub take a look at some of the stats affecting thins in ohio. con kasich the republican governor there, the bio health and steel industries are obviously huge. unemployment rate 7.2% in ohio. if you get a gallon of gas it will set you back $3.74 there. one in 556 housing units is in

foreclosure in ohio. president obama has been there nine times, governor romney 11 times since april. let's talk about it with joe varden a political reporter for the "columbus dispatch." we talked to him exactly one month ago, what has chained in that month, joe? >> well, what's changed here is what's changed everywhere in the country. last wednesday, what went on on the stage in denver has shaken up the race. things are tied here. there is no other way to put it. it's neck-and-neck in ohio. as you see behind me governor romney and one of his surrogates governor chris tear talking now, we are in mount vernon. the romney campaign has set up shop here and they will be here virtually through election today. they know they need to have ohio and after last wednesday it looks like they have a chance here. jon: the polls would indicate that. a lot of people seem to have changed their minds just based on that debate.

>> absolutely. i mean, you know, 67 million people watched it. it was a governor romney that really we haven't seen before. i mean, you know, i along with so many people who cover him on a daily basis, i've been to so many of his events and just i saw a brand -- he just really brought it strong. we saw a president, frankly that we hadn't seen before. you can go back through all the criticisms that you've heard over the last week, i mean, they were all true of the president and, you know, it's a momentum thing, and it is absolutely with the romney campaign right now. jon: all right. we just have a few seconds left. but do you get the sense that the governor is energized and that voters are receiving him well in ohio? >> oh, absolutely. i mean his crowds here have been very strong. last night 12,000 people. now the president was in columbus yesterday, he had

15,000, so it's not like the president is waving the white flag here. it's going to be a dogfight through the end. jon: joe vardon from the "columbus dispatch" thanks for joining us today, joe. >> thanks nor having me. jon: back with more on libya in a moment. 's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, everday! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capitalne. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet?

120 firefighters in all working more than two hours to put out the flames at this commercial building in los angeles. the fire apparently started outside the building, but then spread inside through the windows. a bunch of businesses used to be inside of this building, including a printing company, and a cleaning company. they'll all have to relocate now since this building was completely destroyed. luckily nobody hurt, the fire broke out around 10:00 last night, caused quite a traffic jam on the nearby 101 freeway, a lot of people stopping to take a look at the flames. the initial cause of this fire, what started it in the first place is still being

investigated. back to you. jon: wow, amazing video. rick folbaum thank you. jenna: this young woman's disappointment in not getting into the college of her choice could become a landmark supreme court case on the issue of affirmative action. we are live on the steps of the supreme court just ahead. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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from this helicopter shot we get thanks to wsvn, is a parking garage, a five-story parking garage was under construction and collapsed. according to what we know from the scene there, it looks like construction workers along with the firefighter there trying to figure out what to do next. there is a triage area set up at this point and what we are hearing that multiple people may be trapped in the building. according to one of the community college's representatives one person was sent to the hospital. likely no students were hurt. this is under construction but there are some others have injuries and apparent are still looked for at this time. looks like a pretty awful scene in miami-dade county. more information as we get this. a parking garage under construction and it collapsed today. jon: right now before the u.s. supreme court a potential landmark case on affirmative action. the justices today hearing arguments in a lawsuit brought by a white student

against the university of texas. she's claiming she did not get into that school despite very good grades and her spot was then given to a less qualified minority student. shannon bream is live to boil down those arguments from the supreme court. shannon. >> reporter: jon, while i just stepped out the arguments ran very large amount over time because the justices had so many questions. it was a very heated verbal sparring match today between the justice and all the attorneys, three of them arguing about this case. the university of texas has a tiered system. first they let in top 10% of all high school graduates in the state regardless of race. there is another tier, those admissions folks who applied who don't fit into the first category and race is one of many factors that is used ultimately deciding who gets remaining spots. abigail fisher, you mentioned. argued because she was white prevented her from getting one of the additional spots.

the attorney was repeatedly was pressed how do you know when you get to enough minority students? under supreme court precedent you can't have a goal and a number. university's attorney simply argued that you reach critical max. number of justice pushed what is critical mass? how do you draw the line? how do you know you've gone far enough to have admitted minority students so you stop using race and white students are automatically, claimed as they say frozen out because they aren't minorities? the justice to watch was anthony kennedy. they had a lot of skepticism what the university is currently doing. he asked again, and again, if you have two equally qualified candidates if one is minority that race will boost them and get them in? the attorneys really struggled with that question. seems like plenty skepticism who could be the one to judge this case. justice kag again sitting out because of prior volumement as solicitor general.

both sides hoping to score anthony kennedy. he had p skepticism for the current policy the university of texas is using and current being sued over. jon? jon: that will be a fascinating case. we won't get the decision until sometime next year? >> reporter: we know it is due by june but probably will be earlier in the spring, jon. jon: thanks very much. shannon bream at the supreme court. jenna: now out to arizona. the state of arizona is handing out cash for bright ideas that save money. how ironic, right? governor jan you brewer signing a law to reward state workers who point out ways to cut the budget. anita vogel is live on the west coast with more on this. how much money are we talking about here? >> reporter: it depends. 10% of the cost of savings. could be a chunk of change for many employees. it better be a good idea that these employees come up with. it actually has to save the state some money. let me show you some examples, amazing examples from the city of phoenix. look at this group of water workers, water employees.

they found a way to save the city $3 million. they avoided spending more than $3 million on a complicated water project. instead spent only a mere 15,000 by coming up with their own product. so they saved the city millions of dollars. they each pocketed $2300. let's take a look at janice. she came up with a suggestion to paint all airport transportation vehicles just one color. that ended up saving the city more than $2 million. she received an extra $3500 for herself. >> been a variety of suggests that have been implemented from a simple as coming up with ways to repair the barbecue grills that you find in many of the city parks rather than replacing them once they become worn out. to coming up with innovative ways to repair pedestrian bridges. >> reporter: and phoenix

alone has saved more than $15 million over the last nine years. the cut for employees there? 163,000. so, that's some extra incentive. jenna. jenna: never bad to have a little extra cash, right? has this idea ever been used before? >> it has. it has been used in other states. california, texas, new york. even arizona used it. they used it for about 20 years but it just doesn't work. recently governor brewer in arizona signed a new bill to try it again. state officials want to create a mind-set anytime someone is at work, they should be thinking, hey, maybe i can get a bonus. >> if somebody is going to be working in a bureaucracy, in an agency, they are going to be the ones that will have the best insight into what they can do to save money. it isn't going to be a legislator. sometimes it is not even the director. it is the peel on the front line. >> reporter: believe it or not in the city of phoenix

officials say employees were submitting ideas outside of the program. so not necessarily to get a cash reward but to try to help the city cut down on costs. so i guess those are the kinds of employees you hope will stick around. jenna, back to you. jenna: sounds like a very interesting idea. maybe this would work in congress, i don't know. we'll see where it goes from here. anita, thank you very much. >> reporter: okay. jon: going to take you back to washington, d.c. now where chairman darrell issa has just sworn in the first of the witnesses who will testify about the security situation outside our consulate in benghazi about a month ago on 9/11 when those four americans were killed. let's listen in. >> i'm responsible for reclamation security program that oversees 58 high and significant hazard dams in five western states one is glen canyon dam, national critical infrastructure facility. upon hearing the death of ambassador stevens and later the congressional inquiry, i

identify myself to my congressional representative staff as a person with intimate knowledge of the security situation prior to the attack. i was subsequently contacted and began a dialogue with staff investigators. i made a personal decision to come forward with information and do not represent dod or any government agency. i had unique access and placement to many government leaders and agencies while working in libya. i feel duty-bound to come forward in order to inform and provide a portion of ground truth information. i feel a sense of honor for those individuals who have died in the service of their country. i realize much of what i realize much of my work in libya was entangled in sensitive government work and i must be careful not to betray the trust and confidences that have been placed in me. the killing of a u.s. ambassador is a rare and

extraordinary thing and requires our attention as a people. as a citizen i made the determination that this outweighs all other interests and will risk whatever circumstances may result from my testimony. i served as site security team commander in libya from 12 february to 14 august of this year, 2012. i was mobilized from the utah national guard in title 10 status and reported to special operations command, africa, soc africa which serves directly under after if i come. i was detailed in title 22 status to the department of state and assumed command of the sst the sst element consisted of 16 members. it is my understanding it was crafted by the national security council to meet the demanding security challenges facing the department of state and their requirement to re-establish diplomatic relations with the post-qaddafi or free libya. the sst loaned considerable support to the department of state security posture in

this uncertain and volatile environment. the sst's mission was to support and answer to the chief of mission in libya. i worked directly for the regional security officer. we provided security support, medical support, communications support, for every facet of security that covered the embassy. as the sst commander i had a seat on the country team. i was closely involved with the operational planning and support to the rsoes, security objectives. the embassy staff lived and worked together at two locations in, in tripoli and embassy property in benghazi. the sst supported security movements for diplomatic officers in and around trip lowellpy and other parts of libya as their work required. on two occasions i sent sst members to benghazi to support and bolster security at that location. the ss. it was closely integrated with regular diplomatic security agents working directly for the rso as well as mobile security

deployment teams. i traveled to benghazi on two occasions with the rso. ones with the rso to evaluate the security situation there and once to conduct some work for the defense attache's office. i was there a second time in june when the u.k. ambassador's convoy was attacked. i responded with ds agents in order to help provide medical and security assistance to wounded u.k. security personnel. i conducted a post-attack investigation of the ambush or assault. i regularly met with and held frequent conversations with ambassador kretz and stevens, the other and other members of the security team. in june when eric nordstrom rotated out i was the senior member of the country team with the exception of the ambassador stevens. he lived and worked closely together in an atmosphere common to a ex-pa dish airy post. ambassador stevens was avid runner and played tennis as

well. sst was heavily performed in the security detail when he ran. i ran with him on several occasions. the sst provided an important link for the country team to soc africa. with its intelligence assets and resources there was a good exchange of information between soc africa and the rso. it was a great working relationship between sst and diplomatic security agency and mst members of the embassy posts throughout libya. i reported three times a week through video teleconference to soc africa and sent daily situation reports. i had the communications capability to provide a direct link to soc africa 24/7. i no longer have access to e-mail or documents i worked with on a daily basis because much of this was contained on africom servers and computer that i worked through. my recollection of dates is mostly from memory. i will need to react ses that information in order to specify dates with greater certainty. the state department's

decision not to extend sst security work beyond the fifth of august terminated our security work in this capacity. military members of my team were in the process of changing status from title 22 back to title 10 shortly before my departure. the situation on the ground was continuously updated with reports that i sent to my military chain of command and cc'd the rso on. rso sent information on security and threats of similar manner up his chain of command. while the sound of gunfire in and around tripoli subsided february and april, the situation was unstable. libyans struggled with the transitional government hess indicated tated to make decisions and were forced to rely on local and tribal militias with varying degrees of loyalty. late february police were allowed to return to traffic. fighting among militias was common when i departed. militias appeared to be disintegrating organizations representing freelance

criminal organizations. targeted attacks against westerners were on the increase. in june the ambassador received a threat on facebook with a public announcement that he would like to run around the embassy compound in tripoli. when i arrived in february there were three msd teams on the ground. ambassador kretz was confronted having to lose one of those teams and requested an equal number of regular diplomatic security agents. the ambassador struggled with renewing the sst beyond april 5th. that's ambassador stevens. the second msd team was withdrawn shortly after ambassador kretz's departure and last msd team was restricted to performing security work only, restricted from performing security work only and limited only to training local guard force members in july. the remaining msd was withdrawn at about the same time the sst security work was terminated. the rso struggled to maintain these losses with

regular diplomatic security personnel. the security in benghazi was a struggle and remained a struggle throughout my time there. the situation remained uncertain and reports from some libyans indicated it was getting worse. diplomatic security remained weak. in april there was only one u.s. diplomatic security agent stationed there. the rso struggled to obtain additional personnel but there was never, but was never able to@taken the numbers he felt comfortable with. i hope the information i provide will be put together with data points from others. so an accurate picture can be obtained. we need to be dedicated to the understanding to understanding the problems that surrounded this attack in order to find a solution. our failure to do so will result in repeated instances that allow our adversaries to take an advantage over us. my purpose in conveying this information is to prevent their ability to take the life of another ambassador. or kill another valuable and

talented public servant, working for the diplomatic service of their country. >> thank you. mr. nordstrom. >> good morning, chairman issa, ranking member cummings rand other distinguished members of the committee. my name is eric nordstrom and i currently serve as a special supervisory special agent with the u.s. department of state's bureau of diplomatic security. i joined the department in april 1998 and have served in domestic and overseas posings including washington, d.c., honduras, ethiopia, new delhi, india, and most recently as regional security officer at the u.s. embassy in tripoli, libya. a position i held from september 21st, 2011, until july 26, 2012. as the regional security officer or rso at the u.s. embassy in tripoli i served

as the principle advisor to ambassadors credits and stevens on security and law enforcement matters. i'm here today to provide testimony in support of your inquiry into the tragic events of september 11th, 2012. including the murders of ambassador stevens, sean smith, glen doherty, and tyrone woods. i had the pleasure of working with ambassador stevens during the final months of my tour in libya and would echo what many are saying. the loss of ambassador stevens is not only tragic for his family and sad for our country but his death will prove to be a devastate loss for libya, struggling to recover from its recent civil war. my family and i would like to offer personal condolences to the families of these four patriots who gave their lives in the service of their country.

many of us were dedicated to anything in lib yo both home and abroad. to my colleagues that served with me in the aftermath of this attack you have your country's sin sears thanks and prayers. let me say something about the evening of september 11th. i have not sign an attack of such ferocity and intensity previously in libya nor with my time in the diplomatic security service. i'm concerned this attack signals a new security reality just as the 1983 beirut marine barracks bombings did for the marines, the 1998 east africa embassy bombings did for the state dipt and 9/11 did for our entire country. however we must remember that it is critical that we balance our risk mitigation efforts with the needs of our diplomats to do their jobs. the answer can not be to operate from a bunker.

arriving in tripoli in the midst of the libyan civil war it was immediately obvious to me that the post-revolution libya was a weakened state, exhausted from their civil war, and operating under fragmented and paralyzed government institutions. they were barely able to protect themselves from armed gangs, muammar qaddafi loyalists or roving militias. as a result, libyan government was unable to extend security assets to diplomatic missions in customary ways we expect around the world. we could not rely on the libyan government for security, intelligence and law enforcement help to identify emerging threats or to ask them for assistance in mitigating those threats. in benghazi however, the government of libya, through the 17th, february, martyrs brigade was able to provide us consistent armed security

since the very earliest days of the revolution. routine civil unrest, militia on militia violence, general lawlessness and surprising motor vehicle accidents were the primary threats facing our mission and personnel during my time in libya. as colonel wood noted, in the spring of 2012 we noted an increasing number of attacks and incidents which appeared to target foreign-fill rated -- affiliated organizations. in response to these incidents we implemented a number of changes to our security posture designed to mitigate those threats and disrupt any planning which would-be attackers. the efforts included reviewing and practicing our emergency preparedness drills. most importantly we reiterated our request at all levels of government for a consistent, armed host nation security force to support --. >> the house oversight committee trying to get to the bottom what happened outside our consulate in libya, the attack on september 11 this year that

left four americans dead including our ambassador. this is eric nordstrom that was in charge of security there but left that post about two months before the attack. we'll be back with more of this riveting testimony after the break.

jenna: back to washington, d.c. where we're hearing opening statements from witnesses that will testify at the congressional hearing what happen ad in benghazi. we heard from two so far working security in the area. up with of the themes we've seen so far is definitely some concern about the need for more security on the ground. let's go ahead and continue to listen to the hearing. >> i've been in law enforcement for 35 years, including 17 consecutive years stationed abroad as a regional security officer in nicaragua, tanzania, kuwait,

gaut gaut guatemala, and germany. i'm here to share best information to date about what happened in benghazi on september 11th. as you know there are ongoing investigations and reviews being conducted and we are speaking today with an incomplete picture the but as this process moves forward, and more information becomes available, we will continue to engage closely with congress. let me begin by describing the actual compound in benghazi. it is more than 300 yards long and nearly 100 yards wide. the main building was divided into two sections. the public session included common areas and meeting space. the private section was a residential area that included a safe haven. a second building, building b, housed diplomatic security agents.

the tactical operations center, occupied a third building. the fourth building on the compound served as barracks for the libyan 17th february brigade members. after acquiring the compound we made a number of security upgrades. among other steps we extended the height of the outer wall to 12 feet with masonry concrete, barbed-wire and constantine razor wire. we increased the external lighting and erected jersey barriers outside the perimeter. we also added equipment to detect explosives as well as imminent danger notification system system. we installed security grills on windows accessible from the ground. jenna: one of the reasons why the consulate was moved to this area because the hotel where it was being temporarily placed, there was a bomb outside the hotel in june. so more information as we get it on, increasing

attention that we're bringing to the benghazi attack on september 11th. we'll be right back with more on "happening now."